Straight Veg - Summer Break Kick-Off Special

So I am still hoping to come up with more recipes that involve making two meals at once (a vegetarian version and a not-vegetarian version) for my mixed food family.  In the mean time, I have been working on simply identifying good food that my son will eat (sometimes he's picky, too!).  Certain foods just bother him and he doesn't like them.  

A few things we know he will almost always eat - mushrooms, potatoes, broccoli, macaroni and cheese (who doesn't eat this?), noodles, sunflower nuts and pepitas (pumpkin seeds) asparagus, tomatoes, pickles, cheese, black beans, peas, and spinach.  I'm glad that his list of "for sures" includes more than a few green veggies, but I really, really want him to branch out into power house foods like quinoa, kale, chia seeds, and pepper, but sometimes a kid just needs comfort foods that fill up more than just the tummy so tonight that's what we did!

Why yes, I did serve my asparagus on a paper plate - who needs to wash
extra dishes in the summer?

The meal includes steamed asparagus, mushroom and zucchini risotto, and parm sprinkled fingerling potatoes - both filling and delish!  

There isn't much to be amazed with in this dish, except how it's prepared. If you're careful, you really only use two or three dishes (beyond what you eat off of) to prepare the whole meal.  Among the tools I use are a microwave, but you certainly don't have to use one if you are not a fan.  I also use a rice cooker and count the inner pot as one of my cooking dishes.  Of course, you can always cook your rice on a good ol' stove top, too.)

The recipe I made feeds 4 people at least once and includes enough leftover risotto to save for lunch the next day.  If you aren't like us and don't eat all the asparagus in one sitting there would be some of that left over, too!  The potatoes can easily be expanded, too, I was just low on potatoes today.

Ingredients

Risotto

• 3 rice cooker cups brown rice (roughly 2 1/4 cups if using the stove top method) and water.
• 1 medium zucchini, coarsely chopped
• 1 medium summer squash, coarsely chopped
• 3 large mushrooms, coarsely chopped (roughly 2/3 to 3/4 of a cup chopped mushrooms).
• spices (added to taste) - dill, thyme, turmeric, salt.
• oil of choice for sautéing

Steamed asparagus

• 2-3 lbs asparagus, snapped to length and washed.
• olive oil mayo or mayo of choice

Parm potatoes

• 1 lb fingerling potatoes (these will be cut into coins)
• 1/3 c crumbled parmesan cheese
• 2/3 c panko bread crumbs or bread crumbs of choice
• 1 egg, lightly beaten (optional)
• salt
• oil of choice for sautéing

Equipment

• Rice cooker with steamer basket
• Large sauté pan
• 3 plates (can be reused for serving).
• wooden spoon
• bowl for egg wash if using.

Approximate time from start to finish: 45 - 50 minutes.

Preparing the Meal

Start the rice for the risotto in the rice cooker according to rice cooker directions or begin cooking on stove using package directions.  Make sure of the time you put the rice in.  Add a pinch of salt to the water if desired.  Chop vegetables and sauté.  Early in the sauté, add spices in this order: dill, thyme, salt, and turmeric.  Continue to sauté until the mushrooms begin to brown a bit and the zucchini is tender.  Remove from heat and set aside to add to rice a little later.  Scrape out the pan a bit so it will be ready to cook the potatoes.

Prepare the asparagus for cooking by bending each spear until it snaps. Toss out or compost the tough stem.  Rinse the spears and set aside.

Watch the time on the rice.  When the rice is a little over half-way through the cooking process, add the vegetables to the rice in the cooker to finish cooking.  Also, add the steamer basket to your rice cooker.  When there is about 10 minutes of cooking time left on the rice, add your asparagus spears to the steamer basket of the rice cooker.  If cooking rice on a stove you can use a deep pot and a metal colander to achieve the same effect as the rice cooker - simply suspend the colander from the edges of your pot by the handles and put your spears into the colander to steam over the rice, balance the lid on top of the colander to hold in a little of the heat.  

Meanwhile, while watching the time, cut the potatoes into coins and cook for five minutes in the microwave or par-boil using your favorite instructions.  Mix the cheese and panko crumbs together on a plate.  Heat oil in the pan. If choosing not to use an egg wash - rinse the potatoes in cold water and leave them damp; dip them into the bread crumb parm mixture and sauté in the oil on the pan until the outside is crispy and golden brown (NOTE: the parm mixture won't stick as well without the egg wash, but removing the egg keeps the meal iron absorption friendly).  If using the egg wash, dip the potatoes into the egg wash and then the bread crumb parm mixture before sautéing.  Sauté in batches, adding a pinch of salt to each batch after removing it from the pan.

After the potatoes are sautéd, the rest of the food should be ready to go!  Plate it up, add a dollop of mayo to your asparagus, serve it! Toss the dirty pots and pans into the sink or straight into the dishwasher (you daring person you!) and go off and enjoy the evening with your family.